Joe Mantegna has been named among the Hollywood Walk of Fame recipients for the year 2011. He will be receiving a star in the category for LIVE PERFORMANCE/THEATRE.From all of us at Criminal Minds Round Table, congratulations Joe for this well deserved Star!

The controversy over CBS’ decision not to pick up Criminal Minds co-star A.J. Cook for next season and to reduce the episode load of another female cast member, Paget Brewster, is not blowing over as fans’ campaign to reinstate them is growing. An online petition in their support has garnered 15,500 signatures, with the number rapidly growing. Among those who have signed it are Criminal Minds co-star Kirsten Vangsness, who is returning full-time next season, as well as Kevin Pollack and Paul Tompkins.

Several other Criminal Minds cast members have voiced their opinion via Twitter. Brewster was the most blunt, taking an issue with the network’s description of its reasons for the casting changes as "creative." ""Creative Reasons" has been an Executive Bullshit excuse for DECADES,” she wrote. “It IS financial. AJ is a dreamboat. And yes, I am hurt, too.”

Here is Thomas Gibson’s tweet: “To say we're all mystified and disappointed is an understatement...” Cook, who had been silent since I broke the story on Monday, sent out a thank-you Tweet today: “Your kind words and support have made me feel wanted and loved!” Meanwhile, fans are also emailing CBS executives and have called CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler.

A petition was started to convince CBS to keep AJ Cook on the show and not to cut back Paget Brewster's involvement with Criminal Minds. Please take a stand against this outrageous decision by CBS and sign the petition.

Monday, June 14, 2010

EXCLUSIVE: CBS’ Season 7 of its successful crime drama Criminal Minds is trimming the female portion of its cast for what I hear are financial reasons. I'm told the option of series regular A.J. Cook has not been picked up and co-star Paget Brewster is being made an offer to stay for only a reduced number of episodes next season, leaving fan favorite Kristen Vangsness as the only remaining full-time female cast member. I hear negotiations are underway with Brewster for a new deal that would keep her on the show. If she agrees, she will continue to be formally a regular but won't appear in every episode. Talks are also ongoing with Cook to possibly appear in several episodes next season to wrap her character Jennifer Jereau’s storyline.

Among the broadcast networks, CBS has been one of the most vocal about trying to rein in series costs, especially on its longer-running, more expensive dramas with large ensemble casts. Criminal Minds, which is produced by ABC Studios, CBS Studios and the Mark Gordon Co., has had seven regulars as part of its core cast. Staying on are Joe Mantegna, Thomas Gibson, Shemar Moore, Matthew Gray Gubler and Vangsness. With the exception of Vangsness’ quirky nerd godess Penelope Garcia, which has developed a strong following, the series has largely been perceived as a male-centered ensemble, with the boys getting most of the action.

Cook has been on the show since the first episode, joining after the pilot in 2005. Paget Brewster came on board nine episodes into Season 2, replacing original cast member Lola Glaudini. But aside from the Glaudini-Brewster switch and the forced replacement of original lead Mandy Patinkin with Mantegna following Patinkin's abrupt exit after Season 2, the cast on Criminal Minds has been pretty stable, with Gibson, Moore and Vangness all onboard since the pilot.

This past season, Criminal Minds spawned a spinoff, which has been picked up to series for midseason by CBS. That series, starring Forest Whitaker, is adding a new female regular cast member.

“Vampire Mob” follows Don Grigioni, a hitman and vampire, who just found out his mother-in-law is moving in, for eternity. Don became a vampire because “it was a good fit” for is nocturnal life of crime. He never planned on biting his wife, Annie, and making her immortal, “but then I got hungry.” Annie felt bad that her mom would die one day and bit her, never discussing it with Don, and now mom needs a place to stay and blood to drink. With Don’s hit business slowing down, the last thing he needs is more “grocery shopping” to do.

Actress and author, Marcia Wallace, the voice of Mrs. Krabappel on “The Simpsons” is the mother-in-law, Virginia Jones, and her daughter, Laura is played by Kirsten Vangsness, known for her role as Penelope Garcia on “Criminal Minds.” Chris Mulkey (Twin Peaks. Friday Night Lights) who will be seen in HBO’s upcoming “Boardwalk Empire” appears in ‘Vampire Mob” as the owner of Marty Five’s Castle & New Life Organic Dispensary.

The lead role of hitman and vampire, Don, is filled by John Colella (CSI: NY, The West Wing), a graduate of the Goodman School of Drama, who will also be seen in the upcoming Sebastian Guitierrez film “Girl Walks Into a Bar,” premiering on YouTube and Hulu, and starring Carla Gugino, Rosario Dawson, Danny DeVito, and Zach Quinto. Reamy Hall (General Hospital, Bowfinger) plays Don’s wife Annie Grigioni, who guest starred this past season on “Criminal Minds” and will also be on screen in Sebastian Guitierrez’s upcoming “Girl Walks Into a Bar.”

“Vampire Mob” was written & directed by award-winning filmmaker and comedian, Joe Wilson, who was working as a private investigator when he got the idea for “Vampire Mob” during an investigation. Wilson’s “The Swear Police” won best short under five minutes at the 2009 LA Comedy Shorts Film Festival. He is also responsible for the celebrity sex tape of Tickle Me Elmo “Tickle Me Harder,” which has over a half million views on YouTube and for selling “a jar of celebrity air,” air captured within proximity to Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, on Ebay.

The first season of “Vampire Mob” includes six episodes that will be distributed via http://www.VampireMob.com on a view count-basis, rather than the traditional calendar release. Subsequent episodes will be posted as previous episodes reach their predetermined view-count, with updates sent to viewers via Twitter(http://www.twitter.com/VampireMob) and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=370100209495).

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WHO WE ARE

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the Criminal Minds Round Table. When we were positing names for this blog, and Sir Bedivere suggested Criminal Minds Round Table, we knew immediately that was the perfect name for our blog.

It fit in so many ways.

Many fans, and Ed Bernero (Criminal Minds' former Showrunner and Executive Producer) himself, compare the show and its characters to The Arthurian Legend and the Knights of the Round Table. Mr. Bernero even went so far as to say that he knew that the stories had to be “Arthurian” to appeal to the most people. The team meets to brief cases at a round table, and there are many parallels between our BAU team and the Knights and other Arthurian characters.

In addition, a Round Table discussion is what we want to have here about any and all topics Criminal Minds-related. In a Round Table discussion, each participant has equal status and equal time to present views. And finally, since this is going to be a group effort amongst a group of Criminal Minds fans, we are going to take turns around the table, with each of us posting about the show, our favorite characters and our favorite actors on the show.